Why did Meari come at such a perfect time!
Kurume Laiwei almost cursed out loud.
She finally managed to confess her feelings once, and how could she have been caught red-handed just then? She couldn't have been listening outside all along, deliberately rushing in at that moment, could she!?
Of course, Kurume also knew that the door outside was soundproofed, so Meari wouldn't necessarily be able to hear even if she pressed her ear against the door.
She was just grumbling to herself in her mind now.
"Kurume, what were you going to say just now?" Ayanokoji looked at Kurume; she had only spoken half her sentence.
"It's nothing, let's deal with Meari's matter first..." Kurume didn't continue, forced a smile, and sighed inwardly.
It seemed she would have to find another time to confess... She wasn't so foolish as to confess in front of Meari.
If she confessed to Ayanokoji in front of Meari, who knew if Meari, on a whim, would follow suit and confess as well?
She wanted to "steal a march," not officially bring this "competition" out into the open.
It wasn't time yet... Thinking this, Kurume looked up at Meari with a resentful expression.
As Saotome Meari approached the bar, she saw Kurume Laiwei looking at her with a resentful expression and felt very confused.
What was wrong with her, why was she looking at her like that?
Although strange, Meari didn't pay attention. She quickly walked into the bar, squatted beside Ayanokoji, and started rummaging through the cabinet below, asking as she did so, "Ayanokoji, where did you put all the membership cards? The ones over there are all used up."
The Cooking Room here had "Captain Dragonfly" and an entire wine cabinet. The value of these items was immeasurable. For safety, the Cooking Room's door lock was a specially customized fingerprint lock, and the ordered IC cards and other miscellaneous items were all stored here.
One hundred membership cards had been taken over before opening today. They had originally thought that not many people would apply for cards, but the popularity exceeded their expectations, and all one hundred membership cards were already used up.
Meari had originally been wearing a baseball cap, mingling in the crowd as a "shill." After the situation stabilized, seeing the crowd, she voluntarily went to Hanatemari's side to help.
"The membership cards are here, take another hundred." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka found the membership cards and handed them to her, then casually asked, "How's the casino opposite?"
Meari became a little excited when this was mentioned: "The situation has stabilized. Most of the first batch of customers who inquired today basically applied for membership cards. Most people left after getting their cards, but many still sat down."
"The casino is half-full now, mostly playing ranked matches. Although the stakes aren't high, this is already a great start!"
Meari had originally thought that if twenty or so people were willing to sit down and gamble on the first day, it would be good. After all, the beginning of everything is difficult, and it would probably take some more time to get them to accept new concepts like "ranked matches" and "service fees."
She had even considered whether she should fill in and participate in ranked matches herself, but she didn't expect the current number of people to exceed her expectations; half the people were already seated at the start of business.
By the end of business, filling the casino shouldn't be a problem.
"Alright, I won't chat with you anymore. There are still over thirty people waiting to apply for cards, so I'll head over first!" Having received the membership cards, Meari left without much more conversation with Ayanokoji.
"Oh, right, don't forget to introduce the VIP room here to them."
"I know!" Meari waved her hand and rushed out the door.
Ayanokoji smiled as he watched her back.
He had thought Meari would still be upset about yesterday's loss, but now it seemed she had recovered well.
Speaking of which... he should really thank Sachiko Juraku.
The casino's wonderful start was all thanks to her appearance yesterday.
Over a hundred people came to the casino today. Was it because the Landlord gameplay was attractive enough? No, it was the allure of the Student Council.
They longed to distinguish themselves in ranked matches, be noticed by the Student Council, and receive an invitation to become official Student Council members!
It's a pity, though, that they probably miscalculated.
This casino actually had no "official background"; Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was merely "borrowing the tiger's skin" of the Student Council to act mighty.
They were willing to pay service fees to obtain this elusive "Student Council invitation."
This one percent service fee might seem small, but it was a no-cost business, a guaranteed profit, just like paying taxes; accumulating small amounts would also become a huge sum.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's initiative to collect service fees was not an "innovation," but rather borrowed from the rules of legitimate large casinos in the outside world.
In fact, legitimate casinos also make money by collecting service fees; the industry uses the term "rake" to specifically describe this behavior.
Simply put, the casino's funds are likened to water. As gambling progresses, funds will flow like water through the casino's "pipes" from the loser to the winner, and as the funds circulate, a portion of them will always "leak out," meaning they are taken by the casino.
Before each game starts, the casino will extract a certain percentage of the gambling funds as a handling fee. In other words, when the gambling game ends, although money has circulated, the total amount is reduced, and this reduced portion is the "raking" process.
No matter who wins or loses, it doesn't affect the casino's "rake," so as long as someone starts a game, the casino makes money. If the casino itself acts as the Dealer and participates in gambling, the probability of winning money might be even greater.
In legitimate casinos, a five percent service fee is usually charged, so Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was already being lenient.
This is actually how a legitimate casino makes money, but in this Club Building, no one does this.
Although each "club" here is branded as a "casino," they are more like "dealers" sitting at individual gambling tables. The probability of winning is high, but the possibility of losing is not nonexistent, and a single failure can lead to ruin.
But they still didn't choose to make money through "taxation."
Did no one smart in this school consider this?
Of course not.
Having a stable source of income is certainly much better than gambling, which is uncertain and can lead to losing everything at any moment.
But they still didn't do it.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka knew the reason.
First, to open a casino, the most important thing is popularity and buzz.
If there's no popularity, and no one comes to gamble, even contracting a casino would just be a "money pit" that serves no purpose.
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